Ichigo Kurosaki
Ichigo Kurosaki 'is the main protagonist of the ''Bleach series, and appears as a playable character in J-Stars Victory VS. '' He is one of the game's four primary protagonists alongside Naruto Uzumaki, Monkey D. Luffy, and Toriko, starring as the central hero of the '''Pursuit Arc '''in J-Adventure mode. Gameplay Ichigo's moveset is focused on sword combos that he performs with his Zanpakutou, Zangetsu (斬月, lit. Slaying Moon). Most of his special attacks also reflect on this, except for his Getsuga Tenshou. Unlike most of his prior appearances in games where he starts out in his Shikai form for a well-rounded-power-based moveset, he starts out in Bankai mode in default with access to speed-type swordplay. However, a majority of his moves can be cancelled into his sidestep, which opens up many possibilities, but is one of the most strict cancel mechanics in the game as it works much more effectively on certain attack inputs compared to others (as well as draining stamina akin to a standalone sidestep). Playing as Ichigo allows for solid pressure mindgames if frame-perfect inputs for his cancels are mastered, but outside of his basic combos he only has standard level damage. His super, while very rewarding for an instant K.O., also automatically K.O.s himself whenever it's used. Pros: *Solid combo game, either on ground or air. *Can fly through the air, allowing him to run away or close-in from other various angles if needed. *Shunpo cancels can lead to wonky blockstrings and/or frame traps. *Can control space from afar with a fast projectile via his Neutral Circle special. *Hollow Mask powerup enhances damage on projectiles massively. *Primary special move hit confirm is impossible to tech out of. *Solid passive charging rate due to Spirit-type stamina bar, and can reach 200%. *One of the few characters with more than one invincible reversal due to his R1+Circle special. *Guard break has vertical tracking that can catch and counter jumps. *Can instantly K.O. any target with his unblockable super, along with it having infinite vertical and forward range. Also has ways to confirm into it with any of his combos' knockdown states. Cons: *Has a Spirit-type stamina bar, leaving his manual charging rate something to be desired, along with charging up to enter Hollow Mask state leaving him quite vulnerable (and also lasts a fairly short time). *Projectile from his Neutral Circle has some wind-up and only does low-to-average damage on its own, on top of his overall damage output being average at best. *Shunpo cancels and overall combos require notable dexterity and timing to pull of consistently (as well as needing extra stamina management for Shunpo-based ones); very few specific ones are directly-beneficial to his offense and/or combo extensions. *Most standard blockstrings without Shunpo cancels are very laggy on block, and even on hit. *Forward+Circle special is very slow, and can easily be seen coming without a confirm or distraction. *Dash attack is not a guaranteed hit confirm due to the landing lag on flight dash, as well as his guard break and area/ranged attack sending his foe far away. *Overuse of Shunpo cancels on his midair strong attack string in a single combo will cause the infinite loop cancellation to occur. *Using his super will always cause a self-K.O., which can lead closer to defeat or directly to a match loss if mis-used; also has a narrow horizontal hitbox, making it easy to sidestep. *Laggy delayed sidestep makes his sidestep-punishment game very hard to properly execute. Stats Stamina type: Spirit (colored blue) Stamina charge range: 200% max Sidestep type: 瞬歩; Shunpo (Blink Step; delayed) Dash type: Flight-based Jump type: Double jump Perfect Guard type: Teleport Move List Normal Moves *'Weak Combo - - Ichigo performs four slashes with Zangetsu: ** - A downward diagonal cut forward. ** - An outward right cut into an upward scoop to his left (which launches). Can be cancelled into a sidestep in any direction. ** - A leaping two-handed slash with a lot of recovery that slams down opponents at a far distance (though it has a bit of ending lag). The next input is an autocombo finisher into a Getsuga Tenshou if Ichigo is not suffering from stamina break. *'烈牙; Retsuga (Violent Fang)' - or - Ichigo stabs forward with a hop-lunging thrust, followed with a turning-back outward spin slash for the final input. The stab inflicts crumple on grounded hit and knocks down with a slow stationary drop on air hit, and can be cancelled into either Getsuga Tenshou or Kogetsuzan; the final input knocks the opponent far back with a possible wallbounce effect. The name is from one of his attacks in Bankai mode from Bleach: Blade Battlers 2nd. Can be cancelled into a sidestep in any direction. *'Strong Combo' - - Ichigo performs three strong slashes with Zangetsu: ** - A forward leaping two-handed reap akin to his weak combo finisher input. ** - A two-handed turning rip slash to the left. Can be cancelled into a sidestep in any direction. ** - A one-handed outward slash to the right, which inflicts a small knockdown that cannot be teched. Cancelable into his Tenshou Ranbu special via an OTG pickup that can uniquely work on this final input's knockdown. Though if sidestep-cancelled properly into a forward direction, Kogetsuzan can be used as the followup instead. *'Zangetsu Launch' - or - Ichigo turns around akin to his strong combo second input, only he bends down lower and performs a two-handed lifting slash instead. His primary tag team melee combo launcher. *'烈牙; Retsuga (Violent Fang)' - Dashing - A dash attack version of his weak-strong combo first input, where Ichigo flies forward with a lunging stab through the air. Can be done via his dash on ground or midair unlike most other dash attacks, though the midair version has some landing recovery. Crumples on grounded hit and knocks down with a slow stationary drop on air hit. *'根源斬; Kongenzan (Root Limit Slash)' - + - Ichigo's area/ranged attack. Quickly sword-plant-stabs Zangetsu into the ground with both hands, causing the ground to break for a bit. This move has notable vertical reach, and also blows the target away on hit into a possible wallbounce. **Possibly based on a move of his in the first two Bleach DS games, which was by proxy based on a sword-plant technique Ichigo used to free Rukia from her execution stand in the Soul Society arc from the source material. *'一閃斬; Issenzan (Brandish Slash)' - + - Ichigo's guard break attack. He rears back, then moves forward with an uppercut slash akin to his tag team launcher (without the turning motion of course). This will launch his opponent far away into the air, and can do two hits when positioned correctly. **Strangely enough, this guard break can even track jumps, since Ichigo moves upward despite his animation still being as though he is standing on the ground. As a result, trying to avoid this guard break without interrupting it with a fast attack or timing a counter/perfect guard is near-impossible. *'Dropping Slash '- Midair - Ichigo performs a two-handed falling slash. Crumples on grounded hit and knocks down with a slow stationary drop on air hit. *'天舞連迅; Tenbu Renjin (Heaven Dancing Chain Swift)' - Midair or Midair - Ichigo rushes at his target with a criss-cross slash (inward-to-outward), then finishes with either his midair weak attack ( ), or a turning outward slash to spike away his target ( ). Can be link comboed into from Kogetsuzan. **The first input of this move can easily be midair-sidestep cancelled to the side by just the flick of the thumbstick (the timing is still fairly tight however), and either input can be cancelled into his midair Getsuga Tenshou. However, the cancel mechanic can only allow for around 3 sidestep-cancelled loops of the first input before the loop-breaking-invincibility kicks in, especially combo'ed into via prior chain-cancelled-into Kogetsuzan which would add extra hits to force the loop prevention to occur sooner. Named after one of his attacks in Bleach: Soul Resurrección. **Can be cancelled into a sidestep in any direction on the first input. Special Moves/Hissatsu Waza (必殺技, Sure-Killing Arts) *'月牙天衝; Getsuga Tenshou (Moon Fang Heaven Piercer)' - - Ichigo/Zangetsu's signature technique, where he fires a crescent moon-shaped sword beam-wave of spiritual energy (normally colored blue-white but turned black and red via his Bankai state). Inflicts little somewhat damage, but has fast travel speed and removes quite a bit of stamina on block (though it's easy to move to the side constantly to avoid the sword beams). Can also only hit one target as despite its graphics, it does not pierce through distant-rows of targets. Costs 10% stamina. **Grounded version has him slash downward with both hands in a delay of bringing Zangetsu overhead and behind himself and travels in a straight direction along the ground vertically; however, it cannot aim at targets at a different elevation level. The midair version is able to do this while also having less startup, but gives Ichigo a bit of landing recovery. ***Chain-cancelable from: - / , midair and midair . *'連続月牙天衛; Renzoku Getsuga Tenshou (Continuous Moon Fang Heaven Piercer)' - (while Hollowfied) - If Ichigo is Hollowfied, he can fire multiple Getsuga Tenshou; the first one is followed up with a side slash to his right (one-handed) into an upward slash (akin to his guard break animation), with each one firing its own wave oriented along the lines of each slash. Each input costs 10% stamina, with the final one inflicting a small knockdown. **On the ground, this chain can be repeated twice for a 6 wave barrage, though the waves still will not be able to fly at different elevations (the 3rd wave will also knockdown thus forcing OTG damage that will cut down the overall damage of the next 3 waves if inputted). The midair version functions the same via faster startup, but only 3 total inputs can be done before Ichigo falls back to the ground with landing recovery. Either way, the amount of stamina they remove on block can easily cause a barrage of them to force targets into a quick stamina break, provided they aren't dodged. ***Chain-cancelable from: - / , midair and midair . ***Can be cancelled into a sidestep in any direction on any input, which can be followed-up into other special moves, including the extra/remaining Getsuga Tenshou inputs. *'天衛乱舞; Tenshou Ranbu (Heaven Piercing Wild Dance)' - + - Ichigo after a delay, teleports and performs an attack with Zangetsu next to his target. If the attack connects, he will pursue the opponent and strike away at them with a barrage of quick-paced slashes (his midair strong combo's first input) from two teleports, then does a high-speed rapid blitz from multiple directions into a finisher that is a midair Getsuga Tenshou animation with no moon wave that spikes down the target. Can hit multiple opponents at once with the first hit, though only the locked-on target will suffer the actual portion of the attack; Ichigo is invincible when he performs the high-speed blitz portion of the attack, but it wears off as soon as he performs the finisher. Inflicts a lot of non-recoverable damage. Costs 60% stamina in normal mode, and 40% stamina while Hollowfied. **The grounded version has Ichigo perform a delayed version of his strong-weak combo launcher that launches the opponent away instead of doing a tag team launch, and the next portion attack strikes the foe in midair via their current elevation. The actual midair version of the attack has Ichigo perform a delayed sneak-attack version of his weak-strong first input/dash attack, and will take place at the current elevation of the target. Either version will have Ichigo suffer from some landing recovery. However, other outside forces can move the target out of Ichigo's barrage and instantly cause Ichigo himself to perform the finisher via teleporting to the opponent. Both versions have notable long startup, which can easily allow this move to be punished out in the open, hence it's better to use it in combos or when the target is distracted in a 2 v 2 match. ***Chain-cancelable from: ; the knockdown inflicted by this final input can be OTG-pickup-launched from by Tenshou Ranbu's initial launching blow. *'弧月斬; Kogetsuzan (Arc Moon Slash)' - + - Ichigo performs a rising turning uppercut slash in reverse grip, knocking his opponent into the air. Also has a notable amount of invincibility, making it a primary reversal special via its Dragon Punch-nature, but Ichigo's landing recovery makes it very easily punished. Costs 30% stamina in normal mode, and 20% stamina while Hollowfied. **Ichigo before he enters his landing recovery, can tap at the correct time (or rapidly tap it during a certain time frame) to transition straight into his midair strong combo that follows the same rules as the standalone midair strong attack. However, Ichigo must be properly positioned since he jumps forward during Kogetsuzan, thus his opponent may fly off in a different direction which may prevent his midair strong combo's first input from being able to reach them properly in normal open-fielded scenarios. **Can also be done in midair, though it has considerably less height compared to the grounded version but has faster startup. ***Chain-cancelable from: / . Can OTG-pickup-launch from either midair and midair ; only applies if the forward-sidestep cancel is done correctly. ***Can be cancelled into a sidestep in any direction during the rising portion, where Ichigo will midair-blink step within a certain range to seek his foe (especially if he's close to them where he will warp behind them) which can then be followed up into midair attacks easier. Other Abilities *'Stamina Charge/Transform' - + - Ichigo can charge his stamina continuously until he fills his meter. 2 seconds after charging in his normal state, he will automatically continue charging to activate his Hollowfication (虚(ホロウ)化, Horouka), where he dons his Hollow mask to power himself up with decreased stamina consumption for 20 seconds or when enters stamina break. A total of 40% stamina will be charged up when Ichigo finishes donning the mask. **During this mode, Ichigo can access his Renzoku Getsuga Tenshou, and can stamina charge normally for the duration of the mask's effects. **Ichigo when donning the mask is completely invincible as soon as he puts on the mask until the animation is finished and the player regains control of him. The animation beforehand and the stamina charging prior to that leaves him vulnerable as usual. **"I'll show you...after that from me....what kind of face will you witness?!" Victory Burst Moves *'最後の月牙天衛「無月」; Saigo no Getsuga Tenshou: Mugetsu (The Last Moon Fang Heaven Piercer: Moonless)' - - Ichigo's Super Move/Super Sure-Killing Art. After transforming into his Final Getsuga Tenshou form, Ichigo will then perform Mugetsu, via using a long extension of black spirtual energy that he slams down with while standing upright, sending a trenching-trail of the said energy in a straight line that continuously rises into the sky at his target, dealing an instant K.O. to any caught in it. Ichigo however, will automatically lose all of his HP once this attack is performed, whether it hits or misses (though the K.O. will not count towards the opposing side if used to end a match). **This super has an invincible delayed startup, and is completely unblockable. Like many long-ranged attacks, the targeting can fail if Ichigo's target sidesteps on time (thus leading Ichigo to waste both his attack and his life). It can hit very high vertically, has infinite forward range, can pass through walls and can hit OTG before the getup/quick recovery invincibility kicks in. Trivia *Ichigo shares his voice actor with Seiya. Category:Playable Characters Category:Bleach Category:Heroes Category:Main Protagonists